Groceries and Tobacco

Our work in the groceries and tobacco sectors is described below.

Types of Study

Our capability lies in appraising product and geographic market definition, market power, barriers to entry and expansion, below-cost and predatory pricing, and problems arising at the retail level from a lack of transparency in wholesaling.

In the retail grocery sector we have advised on changes to Sunday trading laws, and we played a prominent advisory role for clients involved in grocery market investigations by the Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission.

We have advised on the likely impacts of a prospective ban on the sale of certain snacks, confectionery and drinks products throughout hospitals in England.

In association with a leading London law firm, we assisted one of these brand owners to achieve competition authority clearance for a major merger of confectionery interests in south-east Europe.
We assisted another leading London law firm by providing expert submissions and technical reports for a tobacco manufacturer in relation to the proposed introduction of display bans and other restrictions.

We have assisted a consortium of interested parties in the grocery sector to promote an EU-level investigation into the effects of supermarket buyer power on producers and consumers.

Our Clients

Our clients include the Association of Convenience Stores, a UK consortium of major brand owners and vending machine operators, a major tobacco manufacturer, and the European Agribusiness Accountability Initiative.

Our work in the grocery sector has featured in articles in Competition Law Insight and the Competition Law Journal.

We also have distinctive expertise in the pharmaceuticals sector, which is described here.